This blog is posted from a now retired 33 year CAW (now UNIFOR) member. The purpose of this blog is to allow others to see the perspective of the average worker, rather than the views of the Union Leadership If you have any concerns or comments on this blog, contact me at Email:paulsblues45@hotmail.com
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Saturday, February 25, 2012

Does Bob Rae Think Elections Canada Uses "Nixonian" Tactics?

CARLETON PLACE - Scott Reid, Conservative candidate for Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington, is demanding that Elections Canada correct an error that may influence the outcome of the election in many rural seats across Canada.Using his own riding as an example, Reid notes that Elections Canada has incorrectly placed thousands of voters in the wrong polls in Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox & Addington. Many electors in the riding have received Voter Information Cards that instruct them to vote at polling locations 100 kilometers or more from where they reside. Other individuals, who live in adjoining ridings, have received cards instructing them to vote in Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox & Addington. In this case, acting as instructed by Elections Canada would be against the law.In an effort to correct this, a letter was sent to the Returning Officer on June 13, requesting confirmation that the Returning Officer would instruct Deputy Returning Officers in writing to not turn away voters who turn up at the polling stations closest to their homes. (A copy of this letter is included as an attachment to this press release.) Written instructions are needed in order to ensure that Section 6 of the Canada Elections Act is honoured at each polling station.

7 comments:

So let me get this straight.Its scandalous if a party operative uses a mass medium to broadcast malicious statements during an election?Does that include a publically funded broadcaster paying a liberal operative to do push polls during an election?

Paulstuff, Joseph,those were Liberal dirty tricks. That always gets a pass in media.As for "Bob Rae thinking""A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion"Proverbs 18:2Cheers Bubba

Thanks for reminding me about vote compass.Ezra Levant could use that in a future segment.Lets keep their talking point and use it against them.The legal argument always hinges on proof of intent.Did the CBC and Graves act alone?

Ian Lee, a professor at Carleton University's Sprott School of Business says it's too early to make any snap judgements.

"Any time somebody is interfering with an election, of course that's serious," he said on The West Block. "But I think (Senator Baker) has already convicted the other side of having done these things that they are alleged to have done. We don't know how many people were involved, we don't know how many phone calls were made, we don't know how many people went to the wrong place and gave up voting."

Moreover, the slight uptick in voter turnout between the 2008 and 2011 elections, Lee said, suggests that if anybody was trying to suppress the vote, they "completely failed at it."

The professor said it would be more responsible to wait for the process to unfold and for the results of each investigation to be revealed.

Once the specifics of what happened, who did what to whom, and whether there was manifest interference in the election are known, then politicians and members of the public can start pointing fingers he said.

"I find it very farfetched that you can throw an election, which is certainly what Pat Martin of the NDP suggested, the actual election was transformed because of this," Lee said. "There's an awful lot of exaggeration and even hysteria going on when we don't even have the facts in yet."

Read it on Global News: Global News | 'Robocalls' could lead to byelections: Senator